The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research (JCC Fund) was established by the Childs Family in 1937, to honor the memory of Jane Coffin Childs. Inspired by the founding purpose to support research into the causes and treatment of cancer, the Fund’s mission has broadened to support fundamental scientific research that advances our understanding of the causes, treatments, and cures for human disease.

Jane Coffin Childs announces 2025 Jane Coffin Childs Fellows!

See our first ever Impact Report!

 

Apply Now
1700

1700 fellows have been funded since the JCC Fund's inception

23

Former fellows & scientific advisors include 23 Nobel laureates

You

Have a chance to be one of the funded. Apply now!

From the blog

Featured Fellow

Caroline Doherty, Ph.D.

Caroline Doherty, Ph.D.

University of California, San Francisco

Mammals with ovaries are born with a non-renewing supply of differentiated oocytes ranging from the thousands in mice to the millions in humans. While these high numbers imply a large stockpile, only a comparatively small number of the oocytes present at birth will ever be successfully ovulated and fertilized. To achieve this maturation, an oocyte must first be activated from its quiescent state and then undergo a period of extensive growth in order to accumulate large quantities of biosynthetic materials that are necessary to support the embryo prior to zygotic genome activation. We are currently limited in our understanding of factors that determine whether an oocyte will complete this growth or be fated for elimination/atresia. My research focuses on how both the intrinsic characteristics of oocytes and the extrinsic support provided by the surrounding somatic tissue determine whether an oocyte present at birth will ever be successfully ovulated. My goal is to apply this knowledge to future therapeutics for infertility.

 


View all Fellows